PLANO—Los Angeles-based Regent Properties is set to transform Legacy Central, a mixed-use campus located at Legacy Drive and Central Expressway in Plano, into a highly amenitized asset.

Regent acquired the property on Dec. 17.

The campus renovation will accommodate office tenants ranging from 25,000 to 1,000,000 square feet in four existing buildings on 84 acres. Those buildings will be retrofitted while prime, undeveloped land will be readied for complementary uses, such as restaurants, a hotel, and retail, as well as additional mid-rise office buildings in the future. The site is entitled for up to 3.7 million square feet, allowing large office tenants unique expansion opportunities via additional office buildings on a build-to-suit basis. A ground breaking is planned for the second quarter of 2016.

The property was acquired from Texas Instruments, which had owned the site since the 1980s and built the four office buildings and fitness center for its own use. TI will lease back two of the buildings through 2016, finalizing a phase-out from the campus.

"Legacy Central is a dynamic, technology-oriented office and mixed-use project offering a prime strategic location; unparalleled, on-site amenity base; and forward-thinking design in a campus environment centered on engaging and intimate outdoor spaces," says Eric Fleiss, president of Regent Properties. "Regent will be investing more than $100 million to transform the site into a cutting-edge, first-class, creative office campus. Common area improvements will include landscaping, hardscaping, roadwork, common area amenities, building facades, building lobbies, and signage."

Included in the renovations will be a variety of indoor and outdoor conference rooms, a 150-seat auditorium and a 30,000-square-foot fitness center.

Common area work will be done in two phases: Phase 1 in 2016 and Phase 2 in 2017 after TI vacates.

TI intentionally designed the campus to be oriented toward a side street, away from U.S. 75. Regent Properties is reorienting the project toward Central Expressway and utilizing the vacant land along the highway for various complementary uses, such as a hotel, restaurants and retail. 

"The existing infrastructure [including oversized fitness center, large floor plates, and up to 14-foot clear heights] is unique in the Dallas market, very impressive, and very relevant to tenant demands in today's marketplace—and that is before a $100 million investment in updated architecture and lush landscape and hardscape improvements," Fleiss says. "We will provide a cutting-edge campus environment that is centered upon engaging outdoor spaces for meeting, working, collaborating, dining and relaxing. Further, the size of the site allows for additional amenities, and the highway frontage allows for strong access, visibility and a corporate presence along Central Expressway.

"Plano has become the corporate campus destination in North Texas. Plano is always at the top of the list for large employers looking for space in the Dallas area, and our project will deliver a forward-thinking campus experience which will facilitate their ability to attract and retain talent."

Regent is not new to D/FW, having invested in the region for more than 20 years. It developed the 1,000-acre master planned community known as Post Oaks in Frisco. More recently, in 2012, Regent acquired, renovated and successfully repositioned the eight-story Bent Tree Tower II in Addison, which was nearly vacant when acquired, and in 2014, purchased another eight-story office tower, One Panorama Center, in Las Colinas.